Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 12 - Chapter 1 - Verse 28

Sanskrit:

श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाचअहो ईश्वरलीलेयं दुर्विभाव्या शरीरिणाम् ।यन्नमन्तीशितव्यानि स्तुवन्ति जगदीश्वरा: ॥ २८ ॥

ITRANS:

śrī-mārkaṇḍeya uvācaaho īśvara-līleyaṁdurvibhāvyā śarīriṇāmyan namantīśitavyānistuvanti jagad-īśvarāḥ

Translation:

Śrī Mārkaṇḍeya said: It is indeed most difficult for embodied souls to understand the pastimes of the universal controllers, for such lords bow down to and offer praise to the very living beings they rule.

Purport:

In the material world, conditioned souls strive to lord it over one another. Therefore they cannot understand the pastimes of the actual lords of the universe. Such bona fide lords have a wonderfully magnanimous mentality and thus sometimes bow down to the most qualified and saintly among their own subjects.